My computer has a microphone, and I would like to record some audio with it. How can I go about doing this?
In order to record audio on your computer, you need good software that is capable of recording the audio input stream from the mic, and saving that audio in a suitable format. Audacity: Free Audio Editor and Recorder just may fit the bill for you. Here’s a description of Audacity, straight from the official website:
Audacity is a free, easy-to-use audio editor and recorder for Windows, Mac OS X, GNU/Linux, and other operating systems. You can use Audacity to:
- Record live audio.
- Convert tapes and records into digital recordings or CDs.
- Edit Ogg Vorbis, MP3, and WAV sound files.
- Cut, copy, splice, and mix sounds together.
- Change the speed or pitch of a recording.
- And more! See the complete list of features.
Install Audacity and the LAME MP3 encoder
First things first: install your new software. There are actually two parts to installing Audacity: installing Audacity, and then installing the optional MP3 encoder. Audacity does not come with an MP3 encoder by default, but one is required if you wish to save your audio as MP3 files. Many people probably will want this encoder, since MP3 is a file format that allows good quality audio to be saved at a small size that’s suitable for many different uses.
Visit the Audacity download page and get the latest stable version of Audacity. If you are using Windows, you’ll download an installer file that you can double-click on to install Audacity. If you’re using Mac OS X, you’ll download a dmg disk image containing the Audacity application.
Once Audacity is installed, you’ll need to get the LAME MP3 encoder.
- Download the LAME MP3 encoder (Windows | Mac).
- Open the zip file and find the LAME encoder that’s inside (lame_enc.dll on Windows, LameLib on Mac). Save this file anywhere on your computer.
- The first time you export an MP3 file from Audacity, you will be asked to enter the full path to the location where you saved this file.
Record audio
Once Audacity is installed, it’s a breeze to use. Start the program, hit the record button and start speaking into your mic. Hit the stop button, bring the scroll back to and double-click on the beginning of your audio stream, and hit the play button to hear what you just recorded. It’s that simple!
Export audio for playback
Saving audio is where we’ve seen some people get tripped up in Audacity; saving your audio project does not write any sort of file that’s suitable for sending to others or writing to a CD. In order to get a file that you can share or reproduce for playback, you need to Export your audio. The two main file types you can export audio to are WAV and MP3.
WAV is a file format that doesn’t sacrifice quality for storage space, so exporting to WAV is going to give you very large audio files. These files would be perfectly suitable for writing to a CD or DVD, but you wouldn’t want to e-mail a WAV to someone else. To use WAV, click File, then click Export As WAV.
MP3 is a popular file format that stores audio in small files that still sound comparable to the original (although some quality is sacrificed in order to reduce file size). MP3 is a very good format to choose if you are going to be sharing your recordings with others. MP3s can be understood by most modern audio playback software (including iTunes, WinAmp, and Windows Media Player). To use MP3, click on File, then click on Export As MP3. If this is the first time you’ve exported an MP3 file, you’ll be asked to enter the location of the LAME MP3 encoder that you installed earlier.
Audacity is a great program for recording your own audio because it’s easy to use and works across different operating systems. One of the reasons why Audacity is so good is because it’s free software built by volunteers interested in producing a quality product. If you feel so inclined, give something back by offering your comments and/or criticism to the Audacity User Community.
[tags]digital audio,mp3,audacity[/tags]
